There is a perception in the market that cybercriminals are the only ones responsible for creating malware – for their own financial gain.
While this may have been the case some years back, malware is not just being created by cybercriminals.
This is a topic that Kaspersky Lab will be discussing in detail at the IDC’s IT Security Roadshow, being held in Johannesburg today.
Sergey Novikov, deputy director of the Global Research & Analysis Team at Kaspersky Lab, explains: “While cybercriminals are the main party responsible for the creation of malicious malware attacks, what has been discovered is that nation states around the world started using Trojans, viruses and worms as early as five years ago.”
During the past few years, Kaspersky Lab discovered many new major malicious programmes that were used in cyber-warfare operations. These included Stuxnet, Flame, Red October, Gauss and miniFlame.
While Flame was the largest and most sophisticated of the cyber-espionage programmes, its longevity was its most prominent characteristic.
Being at least a five-year-old project, Flame was an example of a complex malicious programme that could exist undetected for an extended amount of time while collecting massive amounts of data and sensitive information from its victims.
“The reality here is that these attacks discovered are just the tip of the iceberg, as with each discovery, security researchers have been amazed by how complex these tools are getting and to the lengths the attackers are willing to go to get the information that they want,” Novikov adds.
Kaspersky Lab’s experts expect more countries to develop their own cyber programmes for the purposes of cyber-espionage and cyber-sabotage. What is critical to note is that these attacks, as well as other new malware, which is being generated daily will affect not only government institutions, but also businesses
According to the 2013 Global Corporate IT Security Risks survey conducted by analytical authority B2B International and Kaspersky Lab; most companies greatly underestimate the number of new malicious programmes appearing daily, and only 6% recognise the true scale of the threat.
Adds Novikov; “Through our research, we have identified that approximately 200 000 new malware samples appear around the world each day, yet when asked to estimate this figure, in South Africa, the survey indicated that 28% of respondents estimated that only 100 to 1 000 new malware samples appear every day.
“This fact reiterates the need for creating awareness among businesses about security threats, a role Kaspersky Lab has taken on board and makes a priority – to allow businesses to take precautionary action, invest in the right security measures, protect corporate IT infrastructures and avoid falling victim, especially as such malware and threats are not going away any time soon;” says Novikov says.